Senator Tim Mathern Visits About A Recent North Dakota State Resolution

This past Sunday (May 22nd), state Senator Tim Mathern visited our humble parish. During his visit, he read from a letter from Tina Kaidanow, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of State to ND Secretary of State Al Jaeger. The resolution passed by North Dakota’s legislature may be found here:

Senator Mathern worked hard and Rep. Andrew Maragos (Greek Orthodox representative from Minot, North Dakota) was also very helpful. Here is the thank you letter I had sent the senators after their vote:

Actually, Kathy, I approached him concerning this legislation. So, it wasn’t so much him taking his politics to the pews but rather me asking if he’d be willing to help get this legislation passed. He worked across the aisle to do it. I haven’t kept up with the debate amongst Roman Catholics here in North Dakota. In general, if it’s just a matter of “issue positions,” any priest or bishop may (and should) say what the Church teaches. if it intends to endorse specific candidates, then that’s different.

ABOUT

D. Oliver Herbel, Ph.D. Herbel earned a doctorate in historical theology from Saint Louis University in 2007. He is a chaplain in the North Dakota Air National Guard and pastor of Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Fargo, ND.